1969 LTV KID ATV

[Southern Comfort Kid]

A1,
Great to hear from you! Welcome to the Kid Club. Do you have a PTO shaft coming out the rear of the engine to the rear wall? I have seen large alternators mounted in the rear area and run off of a pulley on the PTO shaft. A 1 wire alternator type would probably be best. I haven't done that yet but I run a 900CCA battery that I got from my son the BMW mechanic. A second battery for the winch with a splitter like an RV would also work good. I recommend a LARGE winch. Many times when you get stuck or the engine fails the tires and tracks do NOT turn as you winch unless you keep the control handle in a forward position or maybe release the pump pressure.

My only experience was the worse, when I tried to climb out of a pond at too great an angle and water came over the rear swamping the motor. I didn't have the needed tools and of course kept sliding back and with no engine! Luckily I had a 4WD truck and a 4WD tractor to use to pull it out (and a nearby son with quick response). The 4000# winch barely just kept it from sliding back but would not pull it out up the steep bank and harsh side angle that I had to pull from. Now I have a 10,000# winch on it, haven't used it yet, just getting it mounted and wired up, but I got alot smarter on where to go in and out of ponds at!

Enjoy the Kid when you get it done, sounds like it should be perfect for what you want. What part of the country is your cabin project in?

SCK

[a1shiva]

SCK,
No PTO shaft but it would be easy to add one. The front was going to be a tight fit so running it off the PTO is better. I had wanted to run a PTO winch off the back for snaking logs out of the woods and up the hill. Should be able to do both. I have no use for a prop as I do not plan on swimming it much plus it is a live PTO. I have a small transmission with H,L,N,R that is belt driven that I was thinking of running off the PTO and into the PTO winch with an electric clutch so the PTO would not be turning all the time and I would have power in and out on the winch. That way I could have my Warn 8,000lb winch on the front and not be running the batteries down on long log pulls.

The PTO winch would sit up higher and I would put another hole through the tub to power it. I could use a couple of loose v belts with a tensioner instead of the electric clutch to keep the PTO drive from turning all the time.

I have half a dozen internally regulated Delco alternators laying around for projects and they are easy to convert to a one wire.

I know all about weak winches. I was trying to winch my Argo up a 8' cut bank to get out of a stream that was log jammed and the current was to strong for me to get back up stream. The winch smoked with my Argo hanging about a foot over the water. It was bound tight and I could not get the free wheel to release to drop it back in the water. The tree it was hooked to was huge and I only had a hatchet. I ended up cutting the cable with the hatchet. It was good cable and took big chunks out of the hatchet blade. Now all my winch cable are double cable clamped so I can unbolt them instead of swaged. I also take a chainsaw with me.

My cabin property is 2 miles outside of Denali Park in Alaska.

Thanks for the help,
DSL

[a1shiva]

I have a couple of questions on the Kid.

Can I lift the engine and all the hydraulics out in one piece including the tank? Looks like I can just set the tank on top of the motors and then lift and slide back the whole assembly. It would make it much easier for draining.

Has any one used an engine besides the Wisconsin or Perkins in their Kid? I have been looking at a Detroit 2-53 diesel.

Have any of you moved the T handle control out and towards the center? I am in the 6' and 200lbs plus range and it is tight getting in and out. Moving the control and seat to the center would work best for me and be more comfortable for long hours in the Kid. Getting in and out with winter gear on would be impossible. As it is now my legs get in the way of the T handle but I could make it taller.

Someone on this thread mentioned raising the fenders for taller tires. Has anyone thought about adding a 4 or 6 inch C channel metal ring between the body and tub? Hardest part would be drilling all the holes to bolt it back together. It would give me more leg room and more free board if you like to swim them.

If I stick with the Wisconsin where is a good place to buy engine parts?

Now if it will stop raining so I can work on it.

Thanks
DSL

[Akcory]

Do you have any photos of the pto or the 3 point hitch?

[Southern Comfort Kid]

A1,
If you need to do alot of work on the Kid the best way is to unbolt the upper body (lots of bolts) and lift off.
I know what you mean about the tight fit, I'm 6-1 and 235. So I moved the seat to the middle (also better weight balance in the water) and put a curved extention in between the T and the rest of the shaft, works well for me, a little less room for pax.
Engines? If my wisconsin ever gives out I'm planning for a large 35-40 hp kohler gas or maybe small 3 cyl diesel like daihatsu turbo 35hp, Cat (perkins) also makes a 1.1liter that looks good.
Enjoy your Kid!

[Southern Comfort Kid]

Tweeter,
Answer to an old question - 1969 I'll check but I have the original manufacturers certificate from LTV so I'm sure I saw it there but I'll check.

[LTV KID]

Answers to questions
1. I have seen people move the whole stick assembly to the middle of the cab...looked nice and plenty of room. Planning on moving mine there. You will probly have to cut new holes in the fire wall for your trans cables. And of coarse you will be sitting right over the radiator....
2. I have never seen or heard of anyone putting another type of engine in a kid...But I have a spare engine with a different output shaft. And a spare kid I use for parts too. So I have plenty of spare parts
3. For removing the body while keeping the oil tank intact would be kinda difficult without spilling it. If your already taking the body off, I would just go ahead and take the tank off because it will be easy to clean up any of the spilled oil up once the body is off. If your taking the engine and trans out to just go ahead and take it off for sure...IMO

Update on my kid: Trans are back together painted...Chasis is completely done...body is all patched up
To do over christmas break: (no more college!)-- Paint engine and put back together with the trans....set motor/trans assembly back in chassis. Paint the body and put back on the chasis over the body. Then hopefully ill be able to finish up the little stuff. (some wiring, roof of the cab, wipers, etc...)

[Akcory]

Any chance you could send me some photos of the three point setup?

[LTV KID]

yea I'll send some of when I get back home on christmas break. Ill try to get some pictures of the manual where it shows the three point hitch set-up.

[tooels]

Guys,

I've been lurking on the KID posts for awhile and even though I introduced myself on the main 6x6 World Newbies page I'd thought I'd shout out to all of you here.

My name is Loyal Auterson and I live in the Ozarks. I have a KID, hull number 1470, that was Shosons own shop unit. They used it as a mobile repair vehicle and/ or to get other tractors back in from the field. It's not a "bargain" find, but since it was babied by their chief mechanic, I figure that there is an intangible valuation for "the sake of history" that makes it worth any added premium.

It's a gas unit, we run it on tracks and have modified the 3 point and the internal framework to handle a 6 foot long skidding boom.

My first exposure to KIDs was as a child. My dad had one in Ethiopia and used it for building roads, schools and delivering medical aid for the Peace Corps during cholera outbreaks. My mother is from Harper County, Kansas and as a result of family ties, we were introduced to the Shorts two generations back.

That's it for now- I look forward to meeting more of you.

[LTV KID]

Well for anybody following this thread here is the progress thus far after getting out of college for the summer

[amphibious drew]

Looks like your making some real progress. Keep it up and you will be mudding by labor day.

[rednine11]

I have a broken piston in my KID
Has anyone had the engine and hydrostats out of one of these? If so I would sure like to talk to you before I get too far into this........
Thanks
Keith

[LTV KID]

send me a pm with all your questions and ill answer what I can

[rednine11]

LTV KID
I tried to send you another PM but your box is full
Why does the body have to come off? Is it because the Hydr. oil cooler wont slip out with it in place? I have a 12 ft ceiling and an engine hoist so it would be no problem to pull the drive train with the body on the machine